Bronze Magic (Book 1) Page 49

  A slight sound roused him and he whipped his head up to find the prince standing before him. He leapt to his feet and bowed.

  “Your pardon, Your Highness. I did not realise you were there,” blurted out the guardsman. Then he stiffened in anticipation of a rebuke as he realised he had spoken first.

  He was a little surprised when Tarkyn merely said, “You may sit down again, Danton. I will sit also.”

  Tarkyn sat down with his arms laced loosely over his raised knees. He stared steadily at the guardsman for several seconds without speaking. Danton waited, feeling tense in a way he had never felt before with this prince. Somehow, he felt his future was on the line but he didn’t know why.

  Finally, Tarkyn observed noncommittally, “I see you retrieved your knives.”

  “Yes, my lord. I did not feel sufficiently well armed to defend you without them.”

  “I understand you stayed awake all night keeping watch. Thank you for your efforts on my behalf.” The prince’s voice was still distant. “You may need to sleep sometime today, though.”

  Danton looked down at his hands then looked back up at the prince. “I think I might move on, my lord. If you will permit me.”

  Tarkyn frowned. “What? After searching all these weeks. You stay for only one night and then leave?”

  Danton looked away into the forest. “I know now you are safe.” He brought his eyes resolutely back around to meet the prince’s. “I find you changed, my lord, and despite your courtesy, I can tell that my advent has not been welcome. It grieves me that you no longer trust me or feel the friendship we once had. So I would prefer to move on.”

  “Oh blast you, Danton! You always were overly sensitive.”

  Tarkyn sprang to his feet in some agitation and began to pace. Danton also stood up and waited. After several turns during which the prince seemed rather distracted, he stopped dead and looked at Danton.

  Suddenly, much to his surprise, the prince strode over to him, grabbed him by the shoulders and said in the warmer, friendlier voice Danton was used to, “Enough of this. Come here, my friend,” and pulled him into a bear hug.

  The guardsman took a moment to respond since this was now more effusive than he was used to. After a moment, though, he un-stiffened and returned the prince’s embrace.

  When the prince let him go, Danton’s face was a picture of confusion. “Your Highness, I don’t understand. Why have you been so cold towards me? And now suddenly, you’re not.”

  “Because, Danton, I have been making a decision and I have had to conceal information from you. And you know how edgy it makes me when I can’t be straightforward. And now we have decided that I don’t need to do that anymore.”

  “We? You and Stormaway, you mean?”

  Tarkyn smiled cheerfully. “No. Not just Stormaway and me.” Danton’s eyebrows snapped together. “But you told me you had noone else with you. I have never before known you to lie.”

  The prince raised his eyebrows. “I may have changed but I haven’t changed that much. I didn’t lie, although in my opinion, I came pretty close. I said there were no wizards or sorcerers with me, and there aren’t.”

  When Danton went to speak, the prince held up his hand. “Wait, Danton. Before we go any further, we need to make a couple of things clear. Firstly, if I explain my previous behaviour to you and re-avow my faith in you, will you stay?”

  Tears sprang to the guardsman’s eyes, “My will is yours to command, my liege. I had thought you did not want me with you.”

  “I am sorry, my friend, that my welcome has been so poor. There were complicating factors, as you are about to find out.” Tarkyn took a big breath. “What I am about to tell you now is in itself an avowal of my faith in you. You are about to be honoured with a trust that, until now, has only been given to Stormaway and myself. If you betray this trust, you betray your honour, yourself and me.”

  Danton went down on one knee before his prince. “You have my pledge, my lord. I will not fail you.”

  “Thank you, Danton.” The prince placed his hand lightly under the guardsman’s arm. “You may stand.” When Danton was once more standing at attention before him. “In a moment, I would like you to meet some people. Under no circumstances whatsoever, must you use magic, knives or any kind of violence against them. Is that clear?”

  Danton looked totally confused again but nodded vaguely.

  Tarkyn’s voice became sharper. “Is that clear?

  Danton focused on the prince’s face, with a puzzled frown on his face. “Not really, my lord, if there are no people with you. But I will undertake to do no violence.”

  “Good enough.”

  In the next instant, a ring of woodfolk appeared around them. Danton made a convulsive movement that he quelled at its inception. They were all dressed in the same garb as the prince and were all slightly shorter than himself. A circle of green eyes watched him. They carried no weapons that he could see but since he was wearing concealed knives himself, he didn’t place much weight on appearances. He forced himself not to stare around at them all and maintained what he hoped was a courteous demeanour.

  “Danton, I would like you to meet the woodfolk. I will introduce you to each of them but I’m sure we will all understand if you don’t remember everyone’s names at first.”

  A chorus of forest sounds issued forth and Danton realised that the woodfolk were commenting on what Tarkyn had said.

  Danton bowed. “I am pleased to meet you. I will do my best to remember your names.”

  Tarkyn scanned the ring quickly and realised that there were representatives from every faction there. The prince walked formally around the circle with Danton, introducing each person with the same level of courtesy and distance. When they had finished, he swept his arm around the circle.

  In a commanding voice, the prince proclaimed, “These people have agreed to allow you to abide among them. In return, you must swear a solemn oath never to reveal their presence to anyone else even, in fact especially, to the king. If you foreswear this oath, your life will be forfeit.” The prince brought his eyes back to rest on his liegeman. “Kneel.”

  Danton went down on one knee, hand on heart.

  “Do you so swear, Danton Patronell, Lord of Sachmore?”

  “Yes, my liege. On pain of death, I do.”

  “You may rise.”

  With the formalities over, Tarkyn looked around and realised several of the oathless woodfolk were regarding him very strangely indeed. He left Danton in the care of Stormaway and walked over to speak to them, his eyes shining with mischief.

  “What’s the matter? Never seen a prince at work before, have you?”

  Raging Water stared at him. “No. We have not. It was almost as interesting as your light show yesterday.”

  Tarkyn gave a short laugh. “That wasn’t even a full ceremony just then. That was merely a small aside.” He looked down at himself. “And frankly, the clothes reduced the impact.” He grinned at them. “I’m much more impressive if I’m dressed in full regalia.”

  “Stop bragging. Let’s go and get some breakfast,” said Waterstone, walking up to hear the end of this. “And bring your friend with you. You don’t want Stormaway bending his ear all day.”

  As they walked back towards the large clearing where the rest of the woodfolk awaited them, Waterstone and Danton found themselves side by side while Tarkyn was carried off by an enthusiastic Rainstorm.

  Danton mused, “I was right, wasn’t I? We were being watched.”

  Waterstone smiled grimly. “You certainly were.”

  “And you were making sure I didn’t hurt him or try to carry him off, I presume?”

  “Yes. You came bloody close to being shot a few times last night. When you retrieved your knives and stood over Tarkyn, it was touch and go.”

  Danton’s face tightened. “And did Prince Tarkyn know you were standing by, ready to shoot me?”

  Waterstone heard the tension in the young sorcerer’s voice. “Yes. He
knew. You have no idea how often I had to reassure him that we weren’t planning to kill you.” Seeing the confusion still on Danton’s face, he added, “Slingshots, you know. We usually use bows and arrows but not against Tarkyn’s friend.”

  Light dawned. “Oh, so that’s how I was knocked out.” Danton gave a little smile. “It’s funny isn’t it? I was guarding the prince against you because I could feel someone watching me. And you were guarding the prince against me.”

  Waterstone clapped the young sorcerer on the shoulder. “Well that’s a good start. At least we have something in common.”

  Danton became thoughtful, “I didn’t do a very good job of it, did I? You could have killed any of us at any time if you had so chosen. I should have put my shield over us.”

  Waterstone nodded. “Yes. You probably should, in similar circumstances. Last night however, that may have lead to some fairly unpleasant consequences. So it was good that you didn’t.”

  “What could you have done against a shield?”

  “Not much.” The woodman shrugged, “But we had two accomplices who would have been inside the shield. Stormaway was not asleep at any time and we could wake Tarkyn without you being aware of it.”

  Danton thought back. “You woke him when I was standing over him, didn’t you?” The guardsman turned bleak purple eyes towards Waterstone. “It is difficult to come to terms with such a lack of trust from someone I have felt so close to, for so long.”

  Waterstone smiled in sympathy. “It is difficult to come to terms with it in someone you have just recently met. I had to go to extreme lengths to get him to trust me. Tarkyn has been badly hurt. The trust will return over time.” The woodman paused, “And he was not acting purely on his own behalf last night. He was protecting us; not only that, you have to remember Tarkyn wasn’t a saleable commodity last time you saw him.”

  Danton frowned suddenly and spoke sharply. “That is no way to speak about His Highness. Furthermore, I don’t think you should be referring to him simply as Tarkyn. He should be referred to as Prince Tarkyn at the very least.”

  “Oh ho. Up on your high horse already, your lordship.” Waterstone stopped and put his hands on his hips. “Well, let me tell you something, my young buck. I call him Tarkyn because he gave me his express permission to do so and there is nothing I would ever say about Tarkyn that I wouldn’t say to his face. Not only that, you will have to watch your step in the way you speak to people around here. Not everyone acknowledges the prince as their liege and even among those who do, there are serious pockets of resentment. Luckily you tried that one on me first or you might have found yourself in the middle of a nasty fight.”

  Danton glowered at him. “I might ask who you are, to be throwing your weight around like this.”

  Waterstone thought of several levelling replies he could produce but settled for, “I am no more or less than a woodman. All woodfolk are of equal rank so you are speaking to the highest rank in the forest, other than the prince.”

  “Or the lowest.” snapped Danton.

  “I can see your mathematical concepts are excellent,” replied Waterstone dryly. He turned and began walking again. “Danton, I do not wish to fall out with you. I would say that you and I both spend a lot of our time standing up for our prince. I don’t think he will feel very comfortable if he finds us at loggerheads.”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes. Then Waterstone glanced sideways at the young sorcerer. “I think I should point out that the reputation of sorcerers among woodfolk is based on the information we have had about Andoran and Sargon, Tarkyn’s brothers and bandits. Tarkyn is the only sorcerer we know who has mitigated that impression.”

  Danton’s eyes widened. He gave a low whistle. “Oh my stars! So what guarantee do I have that you people won’t turn on me?”

  “None.” Waterstone eyes met and held the sorcerer’s. “And nothing would protect you, if you tried to hurt the prince.”

  Danton returned his gaze steadily for several long seconds. “You are right,” he said at last, turning away. “We do have a lot in common. And after that little warning, I feel rather intimidated at the thought of meeting crowds of sorcerer-hating woodfolk.”

  “As well you might, particularly since your arrival has delayed our response to a serious crisis.”

  “I beg your pardon for inconveniencing you,” said Danton stiffly. Then he shot the woodman a shy smile, “But my prince’s welfare is very dear to me. You have no idea what a relief it is to have found him safe. Perhaps in return for your safekeeping of him, I could assist you with your crisis. This has something to do with those wolves, doesn’t it?”

  Waterstone nodded, a gleam of approval in his eye. “You are no fool. I’ll give you that much.” He hesitated, “We would appreciate your help but you do not owe us anything. Many of us are sworn to protect the prince.”

  Danton snorted, “So were many sorcerers who have now turned on him. But their loyalty to the king overrides their loyalty to Prince Tarkyn.”

  Waterstone was on the cusp of saying that woodfolk were not so fickle when he remembered the recent conflict their loyalty to Tarkyn and woodfolk lore that they had just spent a week resolving. “It is difficult when disparate commitments come into conflict.”

  “Especially when stringent penalties are exacted for forsaking them.”

  “How true,” said Waterstone warmly. “What penalty would you face for forsaking Tarkyn?”

  Danton raised his eyebrows in surprise. “None, now that he is exiled, except my own conscience. It is for forsaking the king that I would face punishment.”

  “I see. So nothing is now compelling you to behave as you do towards Tarkyn.”

  “My respect and lifelong devotion to him compel it.”

  “Extraordinary.” Waterstone fell into a reverie for a little while, before giving himself a shake and saying, “Well, having seen how you behave around the prince, I think you are going to be shocked by many things you see. I suggest you keep your reactions to yourself and talk to Tarkyn or me about it afterwards.”

  Just as he finished saying this, Tarkyn and Rainstorm reached the clearing ahead of them. No one stood up, although someone brought each of them a bowl of porridge and a spoon.

  Tarkyn nodded his thanks and then said to everyone, “I would like to introduce Danton Patronell to you. I’ll leave you to get to know each other in your own time.” So saying, he sat himself down against a log to eat, next to Rainstorm.

  Danton stopped dead in his tracks and stared in shock. Tarkyn looked around at him and gave a smile. “Danton, get yourself a bowl of a porridge and sit down here,” he said, patting the ground beside him.

  Someone thrust a bowl and spoon into the bemused sorcerer’s hands as he sat down. When Waterstone joined them, he whispered, “Thank heavens you warned me. I would have ripped shreds off everyone if I’d been left to my own devices.”

  Rainstorm frowned at him. “What’s your problem? They’re just not talkative yet because they’ve all just woken up.”

  Tarkyn smiled. “I don’t think that is the issue. Unless I’m much mistaken, my liegeman here expected everyone to stand up and bow.”

  “He’s mad, prince,” said Rainstorm firmly. “Why would anyone do that?”

  “Prince?… You address His Highness merely as prince?” came a strangled query from Danton.

  Waterstone was grinning hugely. “You’re doing well, Danton. Just keep that outrage in check and you’ll be fine. “

  A few minutes later, Stormaway, Autumn Leaves and Thunder Storm came over to join them.

  “So Danton,” said Waterstone cheerfully, “this is the merry group who stood vigil with you and over you last night. You were lucky. At least you and Stormaway were on the ground. We four were up in the trees. You can barely move without a bough groaning; so you have to be even more careful about changing position.”

  “And if this blasted prince hadn’t been so scrupulous…,” began Autumn Leaves. He stopped as Danto
n choked on his porridge and went bright red. “Are you all right?” asked Autumn Leaves in some concern as he belted him helpfully on the back.

  Danton nodded while Waterstone and Tarkyn grinned at each other. When Danton recovered, Autumn Leaves resumed his whinge. “So as I was saying, if this blasted prince hadn’t been so scrupulous, we could have just used mind control on you and had it sorted in five minutes. As it is, all five of us, actually six of us including you, are dog tired from staying up all night.”

  The prince smiled at the woodman’s diatribe. “I’m sorry Autumn Leaves. Thank you to all of you for doing that. At least this way I can face Danton.”

  Danton frowned, “Your Highness, why are you apologising? It is our duty to protect you in whatever way you see fit.”

  “It might be your duty,” retorted Rainstorm, “But it’s certainly not mine. And even if it were, I wouldn’t be told how to do it.”

  “Yes, thank you, Rainstorm,” said Tarkyn dryly. “I think we all know your views on authority.”

  Danton eyed Rainstorm but let the issue drop, mindful of Waterstone’s warning. Instead he asked about mind control. When the whole discussion had been explained to him, he looked a little ill. “You woodfolk are scary, aren’t you? I don’t know how I would have felt about it. I might have liked it better than the cool welcome I received.”

  “You still would have received the cool welcome. But you would have been subjected to mind control as well,” said Tarkyn. “And you would still have known I didn’t trust you.”

  Danton shrugged. “I don’t know why you’ve decided to trust me now. Just because I didn’t attack the first night means nothing. If I were going to do anything, I would wait for several nights and make sure I knew what safeguards were in place, how you two would react, if anyone else was around…” He looked at the prince with his head on one side. “You didn’t look as though you were ready to trust me when I came back with the wood this morning, Sire. You looked cold, and unwelcoming, and like someone I had never met before.”

  “It was your reaction to that expression that decided it,” explained Waterstone. “We saw how upset you were. Tarkyn picked up your feelings of anger and disappointment when you threw the wood down. Those are not the reactions of a thwarted killer or kidnapper. Anger and frustration maybe; not disappointment. And then you verified it by saying you were going to leave.”